Impact on the Tolaria
by Atog
Summary: Journal entries of an engineer on a battlecruiser that is hit with one of the first zerg invasions.
1. Day 0

Pre-entry.  
This is the journal of Ruke Iceling, as recorded by the computer systems of the Intrepid class battleship "Tolaria".  
  
Entry 1  
I have just found a headset connecting me to the computer system of this damnedable wreck. The only thing that seems to be working in here is the system backup function, and I need a way to break away from the tedium. I have locked myself in one of the officer's quarters. This record will hopefully be recovered once I either get off this thing, or I die.  
  
Day 0  
Grunt had me working on cleaning the air shafts again. The things were always dirty, even after being cleaned. Dust in this place had a way of sneaking everywhere, despite the atmospheric cleaners. I was always one to get this kind of job, always a bit clumsy for the small-scale engineering work, and too impatient for maintaince checks. At the very least, it gave me time to think.  
  
Sometimes too much time, I was always thinking about why I enlisted and why I ever even thought to come out to the middle of nowhere to fight some space-rats. Harmless things out in space on their own, only had to worry once they manage to get inside a ship. But that's what I always worried about, even going to the length of double reinforcing the vents to my quarters, buying a personal air recycler and water moisturizer. The dust had managed to surround me on ever side, but at least the vent was finally clean enough.  
  
Leaving to go take a shower, I bumped into Grunt on the way. We talked a bit, he is not a bad guy, just a hardass when it comes to working. Guess its his job to be though. In any case we talked for a minute and then moved on, last time I'll probably ever see him. I was just about to get into the shower when the alarm sounded, red alert and it was no drill. I quickly threw on my uniform, not bothering to latch the shirt, and started to sprint to the nearest diagnostics station.  
  
Every nearby system was green, but the aft end seemed like it had been hit by something big. A voice came over the loudspeaker. It warned that all personnel should get to life rafts, the reactor had been hit. Damn, my quarters were in that section, it figured though, stuff never happens as you plan it. I started to sprint down the hall trying to find an escape pod. The lights started to flicker, and then I remembered that the systems in this section were powered by batteries located near the impact site.  
  
Ahead I could see a light, and at that point I wasn't about to question where it came from. Once I got closer I began to make out the guy who held it. He could barely stand, his knees wobbling and he was swaying slightly. Once I was nearly on top of him, I saw that his entire right arm was missing. All that was left was a charred stump and tatters of clothing. His body was covered in tiny scorch marks. He fell onto my shoulder as I offered it. I took the flashlight from him, using it to guide my way to the fore of the ship.  
  
I was looking for the next section that could have power but the flashlight had cracked some time ago and it was only giving out a flicker. Barely enough to tell where the walls were, let alone the things we were walking over. I still shudder to think what they could have been, but I didn't really want to know. We wandered around in the dark for about an hour, not really sure about the time on that because it felt like forever. The lights started to flicker above us, and the alarms stopped. We had not seen anyone at all yet, but the alarms wouldn't turn off unless the reactor had stabilized. That was the first time I retched on-station, and several more times in the following minutes. Around us were corpses, at least we hoped they were corpses.  
  
The walls were painted red with blood and pieces of. well. pieces were hanging from every wall. It looked like a grenade had gone off inside of someone. This poor description doesn't give it justice, but I still shiver to think of that first time. The man on my shoulder had been out cold for the last half hour, the shock finally getting to him. I doubted he would live long, but there was still a chance we could make it to an escape pod. I hurried on down the hallway, trying not to look when I saw scars of red and brown on the walls.  
  
By the time I passed the 3rd disabled or ejected pod I was very discouraged. Ducking into a side-room that looked clean of any blood and had only one entrance I decided to take a rest. I propped the man up against the door, hoping to use his weight to help incase something tried to get through the door. My search of the room revealed very little that was usable, but there was a can of hairspray on the dresser and a lighter on the bed stand. I clutched these as I slowly drifted off into exhausted sleep. 


	2. Day 1

Day 1  
  
I woke to the sound of someone yelling. Snapping alert I saw that the wounded man was at the window, packing his wound with torn bed sheets. He yelped as he padded the area, trying to clean it out. He turned to me, asking me to help him tie the sheets off at his stump. After this we started to talk, it turned out that he was a soldier and had been in the recreation room when the impact happened. He had sprinted out, trying to get a space suit because he was worried about decompression. Something had attacked him and all he felt was his arm go numb and the world black out on him. When he woke up there were others dead around him. He had taken a flashlight and started wandering, this is where he met me.  
  
We scoured the room looking for anything that could be useful. We didn't find anything so we both thought it best to move on. The door opened with a creak, the hallway outside it was devoid of anything. There were bloodstains on the walls when we entered the room, now the walls were clean. When I looked closer at the walls, they seemed as if they had been partially corroded. Patches had long scars of uneven metal. Shrugging, we decided to keep going away from the impact site. We did not talk as we traveled, worrying about whatever attacked him coming back to finish us both.  
  
We came to the main hall. If the inter-section grav transports were working we could get from one end of the ship to the other in an hour. But during a ship wide emergency like this they were automatically disabled to stop boarders from being able to get to the bridge. The hall was used for merchants of all kinds selling things needed by all people on ships like this. Clothing vendors were popular, as were the variety of bars and restaurants, merchants rented out space from the administration and agreed that they knew the risks of trying to sell their wares on a combat ship.  
  
What greeted out eyes here haunts me dreams. In the middle of the hall where there was usually a water fountain and monument to the Hegemon there stood a massive pile of flesh. It looked as if hundreds of people had been piled together and then melted. Small rodent-like creatures scurried around the base. They were about 6 inches high at the head, with a bulge on their backs that stood an extra 6 inches above their head. Their tails were exceptionally long and they moved surprisingly quickly for creatures with such a large bulge in their backs. They seemed to be feeding off the pile, nibbling on the corpses at the outside. I started openmouthed, too horrified to move or even retch.  
  
A tug at my arm caught my attention. The man was pulling on my arm, his face was hard set and he seemed confidant. I followed him, too shocked to do anything else. He led me through side passages trying to find a way around the main hall. Behind us there was a light squeak. I turned to see one of the rats looking at me. As a reflex I brought up my arms to shield myself.  
  
As it was about to hit me I was pushed aside, sprawling to the ground. The man had backhanded the rodent, sending it sailing back through the air. I fumbled in my pockets looking for the hairspray and lighter. The rat had come back by the time I got them out. It started squealing as it ran full on towards him. His hand connected with it, breaking it's back mid-flight. Screaming, heat, pain. I passed out. All I know is that whatever had happened left me mostly intact. I was not able to see when I woke up. My clothes were scorched and most of my hair was gone. 


End file.
